Where Was Gordon During ‘The Penguin’? Jeffrey Wright Reveals the Truth!

After an electrifying run of eight episodes, The Penguin wrapped up on November 10, 2024. This spin-off series, chronicling the Penguin’s meteoric rise and ruthless elimination of his rivals, earned critical acclaim and captured the hearts of both fans and critics alike. It’s clear that Matt Reeves continues to excel in crafting compelling stories within the DC universe.

As anticipation builds for the next chapter in Reeves’ saga—the sequel to The Batman, which picks up where The Penguin leaves off—fans are left with one burning question: where was Jim Gordon?

While it’s understandable why Batman didn’t appear, the Gotham City Police Department played a significant role throughout the series. Given the scale of crime portrayed over the eight episodes, Gordon’s absence felt glaringly conspicuous.

Fortunately, we have an answer. Jeffrey Wright, who portrays Jim Gordon in The Batman franchise, shed light on the character’s absence during a conversation with Inverse. Not only did Wright explain why Gordon was missing from the action, but he also hinted at what’s to come in the future.

If you’ve watched the series, you know The Penguin was a classic crime drama, showcasing a spectrum of criminal activities—from robbery and drug trafficking to cold-blooded murder and even mass murder.

As expected, Gotham was in the grip of a full-blown crisis, and the GCPD played an active role throughout the series, though the police weren’t the central focus of the story.

For instance, Con O’Neill returned as GCPD Chief Mackenzie Bock, reprising his role from The Batman. This confirmed that Gotham’s police leadership was indeed involved in handling the chaos.

However, considering the magnitude of the crisis and the key players—the Falcone and Maroni crime families, whose involvement would have set off alarms after the events of The Batman—it seems strange that Jim Gordon wasn’t present to deal with it.

While the series doesn’t reveal what Gordon was up to during these events, Jeffrey Wright has offered an explanation for his absence. He also shared insights on whether Gordon might appear in a future season, should the series continue:

There was no talk of my being in this first season. (…) Who knows? We’ll see what happens down the line, but I’m juggling enough balls as it is.

Source: INVERSE

As it stands, Wright is open to returning to The Penguin if the opportunity arises, but there’s no confirmation it will happen. The show, while brilliant, doesn’t seem poised for a second season—not because of any shortcomings, but because it was so exceptional that continuing the story might struggle to match, let alone surpass, the quality of the original.

That said, fans can look forward to Wright reprising his role as Jim Gordon in Matt Reeves’ upcoming sequels. The actor has shared his excitement about stepping back into the character for the highly anticipated follow-up:

I’m excited about getting back there, but you probably know as much as I know. I haven’t read anything. I haven’t talked to Matt for a while. He’s been off doing his thing, I’ve been off doing mine. But I look forward to getting back there. There’s a lot to explore… I think the vision that [Reeves] has of Gotham is a really wonderful one, really rich and kind of grimy in the best way.

Source: INVERSE

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